Great Catholic Church (opened in April 1967). The autopsy report stated that she had been strangled with her own scarf and it was reported that – despite various items of her clothing being removed – there were no signs of sexual assault. Investigation Local suspicion fell on American servicemen based at the nearby South Ruislip Air Station. The rumours of an American being involved intensified when a resident living near the scene reported hearing a woman cry for help late on the night of the murder followed by two male voices arguing, one of which seemed to have an American accent. Subsequent rumours of alleged reluctance on the part of the United States Air Force authorities to co-operate with the Metropolitan Police in the murder enquiry served to heighten local suspicions. In the wake of the murder, a number of women came forward to report being approached or accosted by strange men in and around the area where Jean's body had been found in the days preceding the murder. One of the women, Miss Jacqueline Cliff, told reporters how she had been approached repeatedly by a man – aged about 30 with a high forehead – who spoke with an American accent and drove an "American-type" car. Another young woman, Joan Gala, reported being attacked by a man late at night on Victoria Road on the Saturday before the murder. Her description of her attacker included the fact that he had a high forehead. It was reported that several young women had been murdered in West Germany in similar circumstances in the early 1950s, with their bodies left by the side of the German autobahnen. Suggestions that US (or British) servicemen stationed in Germany might have been responsible prompted the Metropolitan Police to liaise with their German counterparts, but the idea of a possible link appears to have been quickly discounted. Meanwhile, some local residents responded by organising patrols to escort women to and from the station late at night. At the inquest the coroner expressed his surprise that – apart from the obvious symptoms of asphyxiation – there were no signs of a struggle or that Townsend had physically resisted her attacker. Another young woman – Ellen Carlin – had been murdered in London earlier that very same month. Carlin was alleged to have been working as a prostitute in Pimlico and was strangled shortly after being seen with